Traditionally, cables are routed throughout aircraft and in particularly through aircraft wings using cable raceways. These raceways are generally constructed from aluminium and comprise channel sections into which cables can be secured. Such cables are often braided to provide electro-magnetic protection. The raceway serves to guide and secure the cables and protect them from external mechanical damage. The cables are often secured in place in the raceway channels using clips.
Fuel quantity installation (FQI) cable harnesses are routed through aircraft fuel tanks, in particular through the tanks in aircraft wings. These harnesses are clipped to the aircraft structure to hold them in place. Such harnesses are often braided or routed in a multi-layered conduit to provide electro-magnetic protection. Such structures also provide multiple layer protection to ensure that the wires are not exposed, even if the outer layers are damaged.
A problem with known raceways is that they add significant weight to the aircraft. Furthermore, the cables are relatively free to move within the raceways which may affect their proximity (i.e. potentially causing problems with electro-magnetic interference) and may cause friction between adjacent cables. This is undesirable. Further, known harnesses are relatively flexible and therefore must be clipped quite frequently along their length. This adds weight to the aircraft and makes the assembly process lengthy and costly.
A further technical challenge in this field is to manage interference from adjacent conductors, and to prevent build up of static charge which could otherwise cause arcing.
It is an aim of the invention to overcome or at least mitigate one or more of the above problems.